Dense As a Brick
by RZG
Summary: For Ash's birthday, Mallow decided to get a few of his old friends to come and celebrate. The group's conversation turns interesting, when Brock decides to talk about his favorite subject: Love. Ash is unimpressed. Misty is amused. Bonnie is having the time of her life. And poor Serena just wishes she could find a rock where to hide under...


**Disclaimer:** Pokémon is copyrighted property on Nintendo.

 **Authoress' Notes:** I was working with a bigger plot bunny for this fandom, when suddenly this idea came to my head the moment I realized how fun it was to tease poor little Serena. It really didn't fit anywhere in the other story so I made it a standalone.

This is more of a characters' interaction kind of story than a plot driven one, so just enjoy the silliness. :)

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 **Dense As a Brick**

The sun had just set down in the Islands of the Alola Region by the time they were all sitting around the living room table; their pokémon playing together not too far from them. It was Ash's birthday, and as he was starting to learn from Mallow, she took festivities such as this very serious. So she had placed it upon herself to make the day memorable for him.

With a bit of research aided by Professor Kukui himself and a few phone calls in advance, she had managed to reunite some of Ash's old friends for the celebration. Her friend couldn't be more ecstatic by this. The moment they surprised him with their arrival, he officially declared it the best birthday ever.

So now they were currently visiting him at Professor Kukui's house exchanging stories of past and new adventures, when Brock asked out of curiosity.

"So, Serena. How did you and Ash meet?" he half expected her to tell a story about how Ash had burnt her bike to a crisp since it had turned to an unfortunate tradition whenever he met a new female friend. But as it turned out, he was disappointed.

"W-Well…" Serena flushed at the memory, starting to get lost in it when Ash answered for her.

"We met long ago at Professor Oak's summer camp when we were little," he explained with a sheepish smile, placing his hand over the back of his head. "Though I can't remember much from then…"

Serena just smiled kindly. She had already accepted the fact that such sweet memory was only for her to keep. A sigh from her right caught her attention to Misty, who looked unsurprised and amused.

"Seriously, Ash. You are so insensible," she teased.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked her with a frown.

"It's really not his fault," Serena defended immediately, waving her hands in a placating manner. "It was such a long time ago, after all."

"Ash, if you continue on that road, you'll never find your way into a lady's heart," Brock lectured him in all seriousness; Serena's choke went unnoticed by most.

Ash's frown deepened. Really. It had been so long since they saw each other and even now, they were still treating him like a little kid… For some reason, that didn't sit well with him. Feeling a bit smug, he just grinned evilly at his oldest friend.

"Is that so? So what road did you take to capture Professor Ivy's heart?"

The reaction was immediate. Brock looked slightly on the green side and a heavy gloomy Aura started surrounding him in waves.

"I didn't know, Brock was an Aura adept," Mallow commented looking curious.

"I don't think that's the case," Kiawe answered.

Misty just laughed nervously. It seemed old scars were still hard to heal.

"Brother… I think we just witnessed an evil side of Ash we hadn't seen before," Bonnie whispered half surprised, half exited.

"Huh…" Clemont only reaction was to adjust his glasses as he observed the others' interaction.

"Come on, Ash. You know better than to mention Professor Ivy in front of Brock," if that was supposed to be another lecture, it failed its purpose from the way Misty was trying to conceal her snickers when she said it.

Brock suddenly shook his head as if to clear his thoughts before leaning forward completely recovered.

"We agreed we were not going to touch that topic ever again! Now moving on…" his palm went to hit the table for effect. "We are not here to talk about me, we are talking about you!"

"Me?" Ash arched an eyebrow in confusion. "Why m-?"

"You are going right through a very important transition of your young life! Old enough to start experiencing new and undiscovered feelings, yet too young to understand what they mean!" And… Que the dramatic pose. "Certainly you need guidance through this stage so you don't get lost in your way to a successful relationship with that special someone!"

"Hmm," Ash crossed his arms, looking unimpressed or rather uninterested by the speech.

Serena's blush intensified, but seemed to be interested, as was Bonnie. The rest just seemed to roll with it; Clemont being the only one looking slightly uncomfortable.

"So, Mr. Guide," Misty started in fake innocence. "I am curious. What would be your take on first kiss approaches?"

Brock froze; either because the topic embarrassed him or because he himself didn't have the experience to teach it… Misty was sure it was the later. She was having so much fun teasing her friend, she failed to notice how Serena tensed; her face turning three new shades of red.

"Why would I need tips for that?" Ash asked in honest confusion. "I mean, it's not like I haven't-"

"Aaah!" Serena suddenly interrupted, flailing her arms in panic.

Everyone looked at her in confusion, expecting an explanation for her outburst; well, everyone except little Bonnie, who was snickering to herself. Serena soon seemed to realize what she just did and smiled nervously with a weak apology.

"Is there something wrong, Serena?" Ash asked with concerned.

"N-No… It's nothing."

"Anyway! At your age and your lack of-Ah!" Brock was the one to scream next, as if he had deciphered a horrifying truth. He looked dejected and about to cry. "Ghaa! Life is so unfair!" he finally burst into tears of despair.

"Is he feeling okay?" Kiawe asked rising both eyebrows.

Misty looked at Brock and blinked before realization hit her. She raised an eyebrow looking back at Ash.

"Experienced or not, I really doubt being kissed by Legendaries disguised as human girls count."

"Huh!?"

"Legendaries?"

"Tell us more, Misty! I wanna know!"

"Bonnie, calm down!"

Ash looked equally confused at her statement before a flash of recognition passed through his eyes. "Oh… I kinda forgot about that…"

Everyone seemed to deflate in different levels of depression.

"You really are something, Ash…" Bonnie deadpanned.

"If you weren't talking about Latias' little crush on you, then what?" Misty asked curiously.

It was Ash's turn to blink…

"What?! Latias had a crush on me?!"

Misty groaned in exasperation and Brock's tears flow just intensified.

"Yep, that's Ash for you," Bonnie commented with a shrug. "Poor Serena had to deal with this through our entire journey in Kalos until she decided to get bold and ki-"

"Bonnie!" Serena now looked like she wanted nothing more than to find a rock and hide underneath it.

Misty and Brock gawked at the unfinished comment already figuring out what the younger girl was about to say.

"What? What did you do, Serena?" Mallow asked excitedly.

Professor Kukui chose that precise moment to interrupt, requesting Ash's help to bring some snacks to the table.

"Oh, right! Coming!" Ash stood and left, smiling at the prospect of food, with all his obliviousness in toe.

All attention was now directed at Serena who looked tensed, flustered, and about to faint due to a heat-struck.

"So, was that what Ash was talking about?" Misty asked her slyly.

"How can someone like him get ahead of a love expert such as myself without even trying?!" Brock was pulling at his hair now. Misty thought it wise to avoid mentioning Melody's own little stunt, unless they wanted to deal with a very much depressed pokémon breeder. She was just glad he wasn't there for that one.

"So, how did it happen?" Mallow had leaned forward in excited anticipation; her hands going right over her heart.

Seeing as how Serena had yet to come back to the present, Bonnie decided to explain for her.

"It was really unexpected!"

Clemont tensed. "Huh? Bon-"

"We were at the airport just saying goodbye to Serena and watching her go down the electric stairs," she went on, ignoring her brother's reproach. "Then, all of a sudden she turned around and came running back! I thought she had forgotten something, but then she got _super_ close to Ash and-"

"Okay, Bonnie! Stop!" Clemont exclaimed.

"But, brother!" The girl whined.

"If Serena wants to share the story she can do it herself, otherwise you shouldn't be prying."

Serena would have smile gratefully at Clemont if she wasn't so out of it. Little Bonnie, in the other hand just crossed her arms and pouted.

"Well, we get the idea," Misty commented with a shrug in an act of good will towards Serena.

"That's so sweet!" Mallow exclaimed with stars in her eyes. "Ash never told us he had a girlfriend!"

"Girlfr-! That's no-! I'm-!" If Serena's brain wasn't broken before, it was now.

"Ash is too dense for that…" Misty commented in resignation. "So much in fact, that even if he had one, he would be the last one to know."

"For sure," Bonnie agreed with a deflated expression.

"So that means he didn't give you a response, huh?" Mallow asked in obvious disappointment.

"I-I'm okay with that," Serena finally answered coherently. "B-Besides, I don't think that was fair for him… I-I m-mean… I did it without asking him first," her hands had gone to her face by then, not exactly succeeding in hiding her burning cheeks from view.

"Heeeh?" Bonnie smile was smug and teasing. "But Serena, I remember him clearly leaning forward when the stairs started to pull you away~"

"H-Huh?!" Serena could swear she felt steam rising from her head.

She would have scolded Bonnie for her boldness if she wasn't so caught up in the possible meaning of her words. Was she telling the truth? Or was it part of the teasing? He hadn't pushed her away, nor did he look angry for it… so… maybe… if… if it was true… did that mean he…

She almost squealed in joy but retained herself from making her feelings even more obvious.

"B-Bonnie!" Clemont reproached; his face almost as red as Serena's.

"Come on, Clemont! You saw it too, didn't you?" Bonnie insisted laughing in delight.

"Well, it's still sweet," Mallow commented with a bright smile. "I can see how much you care for him. And it's clear he cares for you too. So I'm glad things are going well between you both."

That somehow comforted the flustered girl, and she smiled slightly still unable to meet anyone's eyes.

"I guess he did grow up a bit while we weren't looking, huh Brock?" Misty asked him with a smirk.

Brock couldn't give an answer, being too immersed in self-pity…

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And that's as far as the plot bunny goes… so that's it!~

Oh! In case you were wondering why some characters were missing, it's because of the same "came from another plot" reason. Besides I think a story with too many characters can get easily out of control, so sorry if any character you were expecting to be there didn't show up.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed this little thing!


End file.
